On Sunday night we felt like something soft and yet complex to go with some Herb de Provence-and-panko pork schnitzels, so I picked a '78 Leoville Barton. Second of two bottles I bought at the same time around six years ago. Like the other bottle, seems over the hill but nearly as much so, and when I drink wines like this I wonder what Francois Andouze would say. Is it really OTH, or would it be better tomorrow? Still, the nose is the nose that could only be Bordeaux, and the wine is a pale tawny red with those potpourri flavors of dried fruit, flowers and spice. Not an exemplary example of aged Bordeaux, but it will do. Yes, it will do.
At lunch with my friend Bruce yesterday in Vancouver, we simply asked the proprietor of this fine old French restaurant, who is a friend, to "feed us". So he brought us a stacked salad first course, wherein rings of marinated calimari sat atop rings of yellow tomato which sat atop mesclun greens, and glasses of something ice cold and bright yellow. Bruce thought sauvignon blanc because of the acidity, I thought chardonnay because of the fruit and the color. Turns out I was right, and we were flabbergasted to be shown that we were loving a very well balanced 2005 Gallo of Sonoma.
The next course were perfectly roasted lamb shanks with steamed French vegetables, and glasses of something red. Bruce put his nose in the glass and announced "Malbec". His second choice was grenache. I put my nose in the glass and got green olives, and also admitted that I wouldn't know Malbec from X, because I just never drink naked Malbec. After tasting and realizing the savoury qualities were there on the palate too, I said it reminded me of syrah in the Crozes Hermitage style. It was delicious and spot-on with the food, and with time developed some interesting raspberry fruit while never losing dominance of savory over sweet. I was right again, it was 100% syrah from British Columbia, the 2005 Sandhill Small Lots which was recently named Best Red in a voting that is, I think, by peers--winemakers and wine producers. As for me beating Bruce at the tasting game, Bruce is usually a great taster but he just gave up smoking after 40 years and I wonder if his reference points aren't in some kind of flux.
Sunday night's dinner was so good Bob asked if I would prepare the same thing again last night, and so I did. This time we had the 2004 Bernard Morey Chassagne Montrachet VV we'd opened the day before but found too harsh. 24 hours of decanting had done just the trick. A real geek's wine, this, with light cherry fruit, herbs, spice and good acidity that requires food. Probably doesn't have a life span of more than about three years, but it's got great charm for the right food and it's a bargain for the $17 I paid.
